Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi all,
Vanilla are planning an update to the site on April 24th (next Wednesday). It is a major PHP8 update which is expected to boost performance across the site. The site will be down from 7pm and it is expected to take about an hour to complete. We appreciate your patience during the update.
Thanks all.

Foucault's Pendulum

Options
  • 28-06-2005 12:37am
    #1
    Sapien
    Closed Accounts Posts: 997 ✭✭✭


    It has been rightly remarked elsewhere that the above novel by Italian semiotics supremo Umberto Eco was the infinitely superior precursor to Dan Brown's breakthrough vileness.

    It is one of those books that create little communities in their wake - readers being affected so much and so changed in their outlook as a result. It is also quite esoteric at times - the opening chapter acting so as to dispatch any readers who aren't absolutely committed.

    Any other fans out there? Anyone who found it impossibly dense and arrogant? Any comments on its content - its disquisitions upon the history of hermeticism and secret societies?


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    simu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,730 ✭✭✭✭simu


    I enjoyed it! It's quite a funny book. I loved reading about the publishing scams and all the stuff about how people create conspiracy theories out of very little was spot on!


  • Options
    #3
    Sapien
    Closed Accounts Posts: 997 ✭✭✭Sapien


    simu wrote:
    I loved reading about the publishing scams and all the stuff about how people create conspiracy theories out of very little was spot on!
    Yes. Well it could be read that way. But it is also possible to see it from the point of view and way of thinking of the people who were the subject of the story - the magicians and the mystics. The hermetic thought process - that of making connections to the point where everything is tied together in one great unified scheme - has a long and important history, most of which is dealt with in the novel.

    While Eco may not in fact be convinced of the worth of hermetic thought, he very deliberately leaves that conclusion open to the reader. Though methinks, since he has written so many books on or close to the topic, and has pioneered the only mainstream academic field that comes close to it, he must feel it is somewhat interesting.


  • Options
    #4
    Playboy
    Registered Users Posts: 2,923 ✭✭✭Playboy


    Half way through it atm and loving it so far. Dan Brown shouldn’t even be compared to Eco, they are in completely different leagues.


  • Options
    #5
    simu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,730 ✭✭✭✭simu


    Sapien wrote:
    Yes. Well it could be read that way. But it is also possible to see it from the point of view and way of thinking of the people who were the subject of the story - the magicians and the mystics. The hermetic thought process - that of making connections to the point where everything is tied together in one great unified scheme - has a long and important history, most of which is dealt with in the novel.

    Yeah, it is very interesting but not a way of thinking you'd want to get into permanently! :)


  • Options
    #6
    simu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,730 ✭✭✭✭simu


    tiresius wrote:
    It doesn't surprise me that the OP comes across with such an air of arrogance here. this is exactly the way Eco is too, in fact, for all we know this could even be Eco himself.

    That would be something!

    'Lewis flushed the toilet, which had been invented by the Visigoth Altiactrix using bamboo shoots he won from Marco Polo's drunken son in a game of blackjack over a woman...'
    This kind of knowing display of knowledge gets to me, I gotta say it.

    This made me laugh. However, I quite enjoy Umberto's little displays of erudition - a matter of personal taste, I guess.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #7
    Sapien
    Closed Accounts Posts: 997 ✭✭✭Sapien


    Forgive me. The OP?


  • Options
    #8
    simu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,730 ✭✭✭✭simu


    Original poster.

    That simple!


  • Options
    #9
    Sapien
    Closed Accounts Posts: 997 ✭✭✭Sapien


    simu wrote:
    Original poster.

    That simple!
    Right! I suppose, being a semiotics maestro and master of hermetic correspondence, I should have made that connection. ( :p )

    I lament, tiresius, that you find me arrogant; and boggle that you have so quickly rumbled my little scheme. Thou marplot!

    Yes, it is I - Umberto Eco - writing from my mahogany paneled library in this exquisitely appointed apartment here in the old quarter of beautiful Bologna. Not satisfied with the international renown and substantial wealth that I have accrued as a result of my few fictive ventures, I have sought to expand my intellectual empire by enslaving the few errant minds of boards.ie to my thrall. My publishers tell me that sales in your country are anomalously low, so I have resorted to these, somewhat tawdry measure to redress your obvious failing as a people.

    I command that you buy, and preferably thereafter read, all of my books, in order and hardback (that's a zeugma by the way - I am very intelligent you see).


    So you don't like Umberto Eco. Fine. You're not the only one. Try not to get personal about it.


  • Options
    #10
    nesf
    Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    At least we can agree on something ;)

    Foucalt's Pendulum is a damn fine book :)


  • Options
    #11
    dudara
    Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    I had to look up this word, really odd for me
    zeugma

    n : use of a word to govern two or more words though appropriate to only one; "`Mr. Pickwick took his hat and his leave' is an example of zeugma"


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #12
    nesf
    Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    dudara wrote:
    I had to look up this word, really odd for me

    Eh online thesaurii are easy to use ;)


  • Options
    #13
    Sapien
    Closed Accounts Posts: 997 ✭✭✭Sapien


    nesf wrote:
    Eh online thesaurii are easy to use ;)
    Try finding a synonym for zeugma.


  • Options
    #14
    nesf
    Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    Sapien wrote:
    Try finding a synonym for zeugma.

    *coughs*

    Syllepsis

    *coughs*


  • Options
    #15
    Sapien
    Closed Accounts Posts: 997 ✭✭✭Sapien


    nesf wrote:
    *coughs*

    Syllepsis

    *coughs*
    Hmm. And that's less obscure than zeugma?

    You got me. That's exactly what happened. I had written:
    I command that you buy, and preferably thereafter read, all of my books, in order and hardback (that's a syllepsis by the way - I am very intelligent you see).
    ... and then I thought, "Argh. That doesn't sound quite verbose enough. Where's my thesaurus... Zeugma! Perfect! It has a 'z' in it and everything."

    Also, I have a magical program that allows me to compose elegantly structured, cadent and mellifluous prose with the click of a mouse.


  • Options
    #16
    simu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,730 ✭✭✭✭simu


    Sapien wrote:

    Also, I have a magical program that allows me to compose elegantly structured, cadent and mellifluous prose with the click of a mouse.

    So it's not a product of your own mind? What a disappointment!


  • Options
    #17
    nesf
    Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    Sapien wrote:
    Hmm. And that's less obscure than zeugma?

    You asked for a symonym.... I never said it was going to be a commonly used word. And to be fair, zeugma isn't that obscure. I've seen it thrown around a few times.

    :)


  • Options
    #18
    dudara
    Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    Ah, the circumlocutious-ness and verbosity of all this. My head is spinning.


  • Options
    #19
    nesf
    Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    Well, in general, I approve of words starting with z.

    They add character to a post.

    Now, must dash I've got to see the zebras those zulus donated to the zoo recently.


  • Options
    #20
    Sapien
    Closed Accounts Posts: 997 ✭✭✭Sapien


    dudara wrote:
    Ah, the circumlocutious-ness and verbosity of all this. My head is spinning.
    Well, I would have thought the Literature forum a good place for the odd spot of grandiloquence.


  • Options
    #21
    nesf
    Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    Sapien wrote:
    Well, I would have thought the Literature forum a good place for the odd spot of grandiloquence.

    I think you should try it in After Hours.....

    We can sit back and watch people's heads explode or something ;)


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #22
    domitype
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭domitype


    Very interesting - I do like this sort of convoluted and detailed novel. At this point I see some similarity to the Illuminatus Trilogy in both subject and style, and a lot of the Quicksilver Trilogy in other ways.

    At the rate I am going it might take a while to finish, but I have been exploring some of the more historical aspects on the Internet as I go along (that is how I found this forum.)

    The translation must have been quite a challenge!


  • Options
    #23
    Tar.Aldarion
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,082 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tar.Aldarion


    nesf wrote: »
    At least we can agree on something ;)

    Foucalt's Pendulum is a damn fine book :)

    Not half as good as what it was called after, damn fine pendulum.
    Also, Syllepsis is much more common word for me than zeugma even though it is a form of zeugma. What an odd word, strange in the oddity.


  • Options
    #24
    domitype
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭domitype


    the internet was useful for a while, now it is just a pain...


  • Options
    #25
    buck65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,969 ✭✭✭buck65


    Tried to read it and gave up twice when I was younger. Read the name of the rose since now that's a GREAT book. Must try again. I actually feel thick reading this thread. Or else you guys are full of ****


  • Options
    #26
    randomguy
    Registered Users Posts: 278 ✭✭randomguy


    Completely true story:

    10 years ago i was living in Paris. Went to the Pantheon, saw the tombs etc, saw the pendulum. left to go meet someone, walked down the hill thinking about Foucault and physics etc and passed Shakespeare and Co; had time to kill so had a look around. Right there on the shelf was a book i had never heard of called Foucault's Pendulum, so I had to buy it because of the freaky coincidence.

    You can imagine how freaked I was when I read it and realised the book is all about coincidence and the meaning we give words and objects, the meaning of coincidence and all that. I saw the pendulum, then saw a book named after the pendulum, read it and it was about the pendulum and meaning and coincidence.

    I was really worried for a while that if I figured it all out I would disappear up my own post-modern ass.

    True story, though. Give it whatever meaning you like.


  • Options
    #27
    studiorat
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,408 ✭✭✭studiorat


    Focault's is a seriously good read. One of my fave authors too.

    Always thought Dan Brown borrowed more from Eco than he did from the Holy Grail Book. I was suprised there wasn't more of a fuss..

    Travels in Hyper-reality by Eco is a good anthology of articles and essays worth reading.


  • Options
    #28
    Mango Joe
    Registered Users Posts: 1,179 ✭✭✭Mango Joe


    buck65 wrote: »
    Tried to read it and gave up twice when I was younger. Read the name of the rose since now that's a GREAT book. Must try again. I actually feel thick reading this thread. Or else you guys are full of ****

    Anyone know what age this is suitable for? My son wants to read it, he's 12, just not sure of the content advisory! Thanks.

    Also Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson - same question!


  • Options
    #29
    Conall Cernach
    Registered Users Posts: 1,926 ✭✭✭Conall Cernach


    Mango Joe wrote: »
    Anyone know what age this is suitable for? My son wants to read it, he's 12, just not sure of the content advisory! Thanks.
    It's a while since I read it but I don't think there is too much "inappropriate" stuff. There is some violence in it and some sex but not graphic from what I recall (I haven't read it in a decade). It is a tough read though even for adults so I can't think of a 12 year old that I know that would get through it. There are pages and pages of philosophical and esoteric discussion and chapters that are the ramblings of one of the character's memories of his childhood.


    Is there any reason he wants to read this book? (just curious)


  • Options
    #30
    Mango Joe
    Registered Users Posts: 1,179 ✭✭✭Mango Joe


    Conall Cernach wrote: »
    CHOP


    Is there any reason he wants to read this book? (just curious)

    I'd bought a copy after reading rave reviews of it on here a decade or more ago, then I misplaced it before actually reading it, he found it and thought it looked interesting :D


  • Advertisement
Advertisement